India vs England: Countering Kuldeep Yadav-Yuzvendra Chahal wrist-spin pair a priority for hosts in do-or-die Lord's ODI

It is not known if Virat Kohli resorts to throwing down a challenge in order to inspire his players. But the Test carrot he has dangled in front of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal is certain to get these two champion wrist-spinners to gird the loins ahead of the second one-day international at Lord’s on Sunday. Kohli, after the terrific win in the first ODI, said both Kuldeep and Chahal had the opportunity to get into the Test team, which was still some way from being announced. Kohli was particularly excited by the prospect of inducting his two wrist-spinners into the Test squad after seeing England’s powerful batting line-up struggling to come to terms with their stuff. [caption id=“attachment_4739611” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have been the main threat for England batsmen so far. Reuters[/caption] Of course Kuldeep and Chahal might not need any motivation as they are already like a cat set among pigeons. Kuldeep has found the weather and pitches, not to mention England’s batsmen, so much to his liking that he had a five-wicket haul in T20I and a bag of 6 for 25 in the first ODI. Chahal might not have been as destructive, but he ensured that there was no relief for England’s batsmen by exerting plenty of pressure from his end. Thus the main challenge for England to make a fist of the second ODI and thereby take the series to the decider would be to find a way to counter the wares of the duo. Thus far, they have not been sure whether to defend or attack the spinners as neither option seems to be paying dividends. However England pack plenty of talent in its batting line-up. If the batsmen survive and preserve their wickets through the 20 overs of spin, they’d be able to carve out runs from the remaining 30 overs. But for that they must first not get all out. India’s pace attack might not be as intimidating as the spinners but Umesh Yadav, Siddarth Kaul and Hardik Pandya have been extremely effective in the larger context of things. Umesh has been getting the old ball to reverse swing while Kaul had an encouraging ODI debut at Trent Bridge. Overall India’s batting might look a bit under-cooked at this moment, especially as the top order has been doing all the scoring. Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and Kohli have got runs galore on the tour so far and this has reduced batting opportunities for Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and Pandya. Each could do with a long, substantial knock in the middle. That would boost their confidence, get feet moving fluidly and set them right for bigger, testing battles. It is possible that Kohli would want his best playing XI to take the field on Sunday in a bid to wrap up the series. If that happens he could be tempted to making changes in the batting order or playing XI for the last ODI on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Rohit has been in the form of his life with his ODI century coming immediately after the T20I ton. More runs in similar fashion would pose a dilemma for selectors when they gather to choose the Test team. Dhawan is in need of a big score. Thus far he has got off to decent starts but has not gone on to make a huge impact on the match. May be the big stage at Lord’s would be the trigger to get his competitive juices flowing. A particularly amazing aspect of this series has been the incredible support enjoyed by India. Most of the stadia seem to be swathed in blue and spectators have been as noisy as they are in India. This would have shocked locals, who are accustomed to seeing only a few spectators quietly soaking in the sun during cricket matches. Lord’s, which is in London, home of a massive Indian-origin population, would present a similar scene. It would be noisy with thousands of India’s supporters, both from England and overseas. Worse for England fans, Lord’s is not their lucky ground. The home team’s win-loss record these past 10 years has hardly been encouraging. They have lost nine ODIs against five wins and that should be cause for worry especially as the hot summer weather is favourable to the visitors. But watch out. Like their football team, England’s cricket team too has a lot of pride to play for today! Squads: India: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shreyas Iyer, Siddarth Kaul, Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. England: Eoin Morgan (c), Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Jake Ball, Tom Curran, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Mark Wood. Time: 3.30 pm IST | 11 am BST Venue: Lord’s Cricket Ground, London. Follow our England vs India LIVE blog here